| Criteria for Life ~ 1 | All life forms contain deoxyribonucleic acid, which is called DNA. |
| Criteria for Life ~ 2 | All life forms have a method by which they extract energy from the surroundings and convert it into energy that sustains them. |
| Criteria for Life ~ 3 | All life forms can sense changes in their surroundings and respond to those changes. |
| Criteria for Life ~ 4 | All life forms reproduce. |
| Metabolism | The sum total of all processes in an organism which convert energy and matter from outside sources and use that energy and matter to sustain the organisms life functions. |
| Anabolism | The sum total of all processes in an organism which use energy and simple chemical building blocks to produce large chemicals and structures necessary for life. |
| Catabolism | The sum total of all processes in an organism which break down chemicals to produce energy and simple chemical building blocks. |
| Photosynthesis | The process by which green plants and some other organisms use the energy of sunlight and simple chemicals to produce their own food. |
| Herbivores | Organisms that eat only plants. |
| Carnivores | Organisms that eat only organisms other than plants. |
| Omnivores | Organisms that eat both plants and other organisms. |
| Producers | Organisms that produce their own food. |
| Consumers | Organisms that eat living producers and /or other consumers for food. |
| Decomposers | Organisms that break down the dead remains of other organisms. |
| Autotrophs | Organisms that are able to make their own food. |
| Heterotrophs | Organisms that depend on other organisms for their food. |
| Receptors | Special structures that allow living organisms to sense the conditions of their internal or external environment. |
| Asexual Reproduction | Reproduction accomplished by a single organism. |
| Sexual Reproduction | Reproduction that requires two organisms. |
| Inheritance | The process by which physical and biological characteristics are transmitted from the parent (or parents) to the offspring. |
| Mutation | An abrupt and marked change in the DNA of an organism compared to that of its parents. |
| Scientific Law | A theory that has been tested by and is consistent with generations of data. |
| Hypothesis | An educated guess that attempts to explain an observation or answer a question. |
| Theory | A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data. |
| Microorganisms | Living creatures that are too small to see with the naked eye. |
| Abiogenesis | The idea that long ago, very simple life forms spontaneously appeared through chemical reactions. |
| Prokaryotic Cell | A cell that has no distinct, membrane-bounded organelles. |
| Eukaryotic Cell | A cell with distinct, membrane-bounded organelles. |
| Species | A unit of one or more populations of individuals that can reproduce under normal conditions, produce fertile offspring, and reproductively isolate from other such units. |
| Taxonomy | The science of classifying organisms. |
| Binomial Nomenclature | Naming an organism with its genus and species name. |
